10 Best Vitamins & Multivitamins for Seniors from Nature Made®

As we age into our older and wiser years, seniors must pay attention to their nutrition.

While eating a healthy, balanced diet, including whole fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats, is always the first place to go when looking for essential vitamins and minerals, a consistent daily supplement routine is a great way to support your diet and help to bridge possible nutrient gaps.

Nature Made^® offers several supplements and multivitamins specially formulated for seniors to help support healthy aging.

Recent research suggests that higher intake of certain key nutrients, including Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin K, Magnesium, Zinc, and more, has a positive association with cognitive function in older adults.[1]

We’ll discuss about what nutrients are particularly important for seniors, and give some guidance on our best multivitamin for seniors.^†

Nutritional Needs in Older Adults

Our lives change as we age, and so do our nutritional requirements. The body becomes less efficient at absorbing nutrients, so providing adequate essential vitamins and minerals becomes even more important.[2]

Adults 71 and older have a higher prevalence of nutrient inadequacy in the minerals Calcium and Magnesium, along with most B Vitamins.[3] Older adults tend to eat less, which may explain why certain nutrient shortfalls are more common.[4]

For these reasons, it's essential to have a personalized nutrition plan for healthy aging to help you determine what foods to include in your diet and a supplement routine to help close these nutrient gaps.

5 Key Vitamins for Seniors

You may ask yourself, what vitamins should I take? Here are five essential vitamins Nature Made^® includes in our best multivitamin for older adults.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D supports healthy aging by helping the body absorb Calcium. Our bodies use Calcium to reinforce the crystalline structure of our bones, so taking Vitamin D supports our bone health as we age by helping our body take in more of it.^†

This, in turn, also supports the health of our teeth and our muscles. Vitamin D also helps regulate a healthy immune response and supports our body's natural defenses.^†

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is essential for the normal function of our nervous system. Nature Made^® Vitamin B12 Time Release Tablets support healthy aging and helps reduce fatigue for those low in B12 by helping convert the food you eat into cellular energy which also helps support brain cell function.^†

Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is another B Vitamin that supports healthy aging, helps convert food into cellular energy, and supports the production of neurotransmitters needed for mood health.^†

Our Time Release B-100 Complex Tablets combine all 8 B Vitamins into one daily tablet to help support cellular energy production and normal nervous system function.^†

Vitamin K

Keeping bones strong and blood vessels functional is an essential tenet of healthy aging, which is why Nature Made^® Vitamin D3 + K2 Gummies offer a dose of both of these essential nutrients in a tasty package.^†

Vitamin K2 and Vitamin D3 work better for bone health when taken together than D3 alone; Vitamin K2 works alongside Vitamin D3 to help direct Calcium to bones. K2 and D3 are critical in making activated proteins that maintain the elasticity of blood vessels.^†

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an immune-support nutrient that citrus fruits often provide. However, about half of U.S. adults don't get enough Vitamin C from their daily diets.[5] Vitamin C supports healthy skin and works closely with other antioxidants in the body to neutralize free radicals.^†

5 Essential Nutrients for Seniors

We’ve listed our best vitamins for seniors, but vitamins aren't the only thing to consider when supporting healthy aging. Here are some other essential nutrients for seniors:

Calcium

Years of milk marketing have taught us that Calcium helps develop, support, and maintain strong bones. Adequate Calcium throughout life, as part of a well-balanced diet, may reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Nature Made^® Calcium with Vitamin D3 Softgels combine a dose of Calcium with Vitamin D3, which enhances our body's absorption of this bone health nutrient.^†

Magnesium

Magnesium is another essential mineral that supports nerve, heart, and bone health. Magnesium L-Threonate helps support healthy cognitive function in older adults, including short-term memory.*^†

Nature Made^® Magnesium L-Threonate with Vitamins C and D3 provides this essential mineral to support muscle relaxation and nerve, heart, and bone health.^†

Zinc

Adults 65 and older are at higher risk of Zinc inadequacy.[5] What's Zinc good for? Zinc is an essential nutrient that provides antioxidant support to protect cells from oxidative stress. It also supports healthy skin and the vital functions of over 100 different enzymes in the body, which is important for overall health.^†

Iron

Iron is an essential mineral that's vital for red blood cell formation. However, older adults are at higher relative risk of Iron deficiency due to a lack of adequate iron sources in their diet. It's also likely that elevated levels of the hormone "hepcidin" that come with age inhibit Iron absorption in the bloodstream.[6]^†

Fish Oil

Omega-3 Fatty Acids EPA and DHA are found chiefly in our diets through fatty fish like salmon or mackerel. Nature Made^® Extra Strength Omega-3†† From Fish Oil Softgels provide an extra-strength dose of these fatty acids, supporting a healthy brain, eyes, and mood in two daily softgels.^†

Choosing the Right Multivitamin for Seniors

Knowing which one to pick can be challenging with so many multivitamin options on the market. Nature Made^® offers our best multivitamins for seniors in our Multivitamin Collection for those 50 and older, with Multi for Her 50+ Tablets and Softgels and Multi for Him 50+ Tablets. These multivitamins provide 22 key nutrients for daily nutritional support, including Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B6, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, and Zinc.^†

Always consult your primary healthcare provider or another medical professional before beginning or modifying a supplement routine, they are best suited to give you personalized advice.

Should Seniors Take a Multivitamin Every Day?

If you’re asking, “should I take a multivitamin every day,” here’s the skinny. Adding a multivitamin to your supplement routine can help fill nutritional gaps in your diet by providing doses of a wide variety of key nutrients. This is helpful when you may not get the daily recommended amount of each nutrient every day; this can happen because of varied diets, unavailability of certain foods, or hectic schedules that can lead to irregular meals.

Adding a multivitamin to your daily supplement regimen means that no matter what, you're getting a dose of essential nutrients to support your overall health. Nature Made^® also has guidance on our best supplements for men and our best supplements for women.

Taking your multivitamin at breakfast or dinner helps in two ways: multis contain both water and fat-soluble vitamins, so they should be taken with water and a meal for optimal absorption, and by attaching your supplements to a consistent daily meal, you are more likely to remember to take them consistently.

Empowering Wellness Support: Your Golden Years, Your Way

Proper nutrition is an essential aspect of healthy aging, with evidence that vitamin and mineral adequacy in older adults is associated with better cognitive function[1] and providing our bodies and bones with the nutritional support we need in our later years.^†

The first place to seek nutrients is always our diet. Seek a balanced diet of non-starchy vegetables, whole fruits, lean proteins, dairy, and healthy fats to provide the nutritional support necessary for healthy aging. To help cover dietary gaps you may have missed, Nature Made^®'s best multivitamin for seniors can form a great cornerstone to your daily supplement routine.

*Some adults experience mild memory loss associated with aging

††As ethyl esters

† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

References

1. Devarshi PP, Gustafson K, Grant RW, Mitmesser SH. Higher intake of certain nutrients among older adults is associated with better cognitive function: an analysis of NHANES 2011-2014. BMC Nutr. 2023;9(1):142. Published 2023 Dec 5. doi:10.1186/s40795-023-00802-0
2. Institute of Medicine (U.S.) Food Forum. Providing Healthy and Safe Foods As We Age: Workshop Summary. Washington (D.C.): National Academies Press (U.S.); 2010. 5, Nutrition Concerns for Aging Populations. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK51837/
3. Blumberg JB, Frei B, Fulgoni VL, Weaver CM, Zeisel SH. Contribution of Dietary Supplements to Nutritional Adequacy in Various Adult Age Groups. Nutrients. 2017;9(12):1325. Published 2017 Dec 6. doi:10.3390/nu9121325
4. Kaur D, Rasane P, Singh J, et al. Nutritional Interventions for Elderly and Considerations for the Development of Geriatric Foods. Curr Aging Sci. 2019;12(1):15-27. doi:10.2174/1874609812666190521110548
5. Oregon State University. Zinc. Linus Pauling Institute. Published April 23, 2014. https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/minerals/zinc‌
6. Fairweather-Tait SJ, Wawer AA, Gillings R, Jennings A, Myint PK. Iron status in the elderly. Mech Ageing Dev. 2014;136-137:22-28. doi:10.1016/j.mad.2013.11.005